Renting an Apartment as an “Illegal Immigrant”

Renting an Apartment as an “Illegal Immigrant”

HARRISBURG, PA – Being an illegal immigrant in the United States is difficult and finding an apartment to rent doesn’t make it any better. Renting an apartment in a decent area requires legal documentation and the proper paper work that illegal immigrants will most likely not have.

Illegal Immigrants Are Forced to Live in Bad Areas

Most of the times illegal immigrants are forced to move to the bad part of town due to not having a valid identification and social security number, while filling for section 8 might be an option to some this is not an option for these individuals. These areas are usually crime invested with a high murder rate. Though, finding an apartment to rent is not impressible it’s usually very difficult since the apartment landlord can’t see the credit score, crime history and income verification of the person. The illegal immigrant or immigrants might be the most honest, hard working people in the world but without proper verification the landlord can’t verify the who’s applying.

“Being an undocumented immigrant is something that I’m working on since the early 2000’s but my application has been getting denied by USCIS” says, Juan Pablo Ramirez an apartment renter in Los Angeles, CA

Many People Living in a One-Bedroom Apartment

The life of an immigrant isn’t easy, especially with a big family. When the illegal alien finally finds an apartment he or she is able to rent they don’t have many options of how many rooms they want or need. This problem leads to many people living under one roof. One way or another the family needs to make it work. Sometimes family are forced to live in the living room due to not being able to afford rent or not having the proper documentation.Let’s be honest every landlord want’s to avoid dealing with delinquent tenants at all costs.

High Security Deposits

Since the landlord can’t verify the identity of renter the landlord will require 4-5 months of security deposit ahead of time along with the 1 months rent. Having to give such high security deposit will be considered outrages. There have been times where the landlord knows the renter is undocumented and they keep the security deposit even though the renter paid rent on time every time. Missing a months rent is not like missing a mortgage payment.

“When I applied for my current apartment and the manager and landlord saw that I was undocumented they charged me 3 months rent security deposit on top of my first months rent, I had no choice but to pay it, this is the life of an immigrant” says, Francisco Sanchez, an apartment renter from Norwalk, CA

Breaking the Lease

Breaking an apartment lease is one of the worst things an illegal immigrant could do since there’s have been cases where the landlord will threaten the renter with calling ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). These types of situations will force families to pay high rent and stay living in an apartment they don’t want to rent anymore. The fear will keep immigrants from calling the police or filing a case in court. Breaking a lease to a legal resident might not be a big deal but being an undocumented illegal immigrant is a different story. There has been cases when landlords intentionally have hidden charges for undocumented renters.

Working Over Time Just to Pay Rent

Working 10-12 hours is something most illegal immigrants will have to do just to make ends meet, since most immigrant don’t have a social security they will have to work over time and sometimes even double time just to able to pay rent each month since most under the table jobs pay minimum wage. Others spend more time working than with their families.

Condition of the Apartment

The condition of the apartments illegal immigrant rent isn’t always bad, some get lucky and find a decent area to live and raise a family. The one’s that aren’t lucky usually have to settle for older, cockroach and rotten infested buildings. Read this article if you want to know how to keep cockroaches out of your home.

“My apartment is infested with cockroaches and rats, I keep complaining to the landlord but he never does anything about it” says, Diego Patricio, an undocumented apartment renter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Conclusion

Leaving your home country for an opportunity of the American Dream is something many families feel like they need to do to survive. Unfortunately third world countries like Mexico, El Salvador, and Cambodia etc. don’t have the resources and the economic opportunity like the United States does. Immigrants don’t want to leave their families behind but sometimes it’s the only way they will get any type of income.

Many believe that life in America as an illegal immigrant has become extremely difficult after the president Donald Trump has entered the white house. President Trump has taken extreme measures to go after illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the past but other reports have shown that criminals are not the only people getting deported those who have no type of criminal record are being targeted too. Is this a way of life worth living?